Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando centre-closed the new extradosed bridge over the Kelani River on Saturday (10). The new Kelani Bridge employs the extradosed engineering design, which uses stay-cables to connect two main pylons with the bridge deck, and to share weight of the loads from the bridge deck. Addressing the ceremony, Minister Fernando said: “It was in 2014 that then-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his capacity as Minister of Highways, initiated the New Kelani Bridge project and signed the plans and the approval. “We are going to complete the work of this new Kelani Bridge within three months and hope that it could be commissioned in the first week of September. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa await the speedy completion of this project.

Source: The Nation July 11, 2021 18:22 UTC